Quote:
Originally Posted by momentblur
The wifi edition advertised on B&N for $149 (although it won't allow me to order one shipped to England) seems like a bargain. Actually moving a new model to same region of pricing I'm looking at for a second hand unit (seems unfair :-( )
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Economies of scale make a difference.
With Amazon reportedly moving 3.5 million Kindles in 2010 and B&N moving a million+ Nooks (for the US alone) their pricing structure is going to be very different from a small regional vendor that issues a press release when they reach 10,000 units sold (like Cool-er did).
More importantly, comparing this year's *new* models to last year's used models means comparing last years supply chain to this year's. Not only are the new products going to cost less to build, in some cases they will perform better as they will feature newer screen tech (C.F., Kindle DX, possibly the Kindle 3, with the new-generation "Pearl" eink displays), better controllers, faster processors, newer software, etc.
The ebook reader market may be headed for a phase like PCs went through in the 80s and 90s when there was effectively no room for used systems because new systems were improving in performance *and* dropping in price so fast that it made no sense to buy used. In NorthAmerica, at least, we've already seen several products announced in january that have been effectively obsoleted before they even got to market.
More disruptions lie ahead.